I started my trip by going to New York city to meet Nila Karta on Oct 2, 2009. We had lunch at Chinatown and then I went to Philadelphia by bus. Nila gave me a pink batik shawl and a batik bag. It’s batik day as batik is recognized by UNESCO as a cultural heritage of Indonesia.

Tante Nina and Pak Tomo picked me up at bus station and we went to Love Park. The water at the fountain was pink. It’s a holy coincidence to have such a special welcome! I met several Indonesians and ate Indonesian foods at tante Nina-om Yo’s home. Tante Nina prepared my room including the snacks and drinks.

Oct 3, 2009I attended mass at St. Thomas Aquinas Church and then went to Shrine of St. Rita with om Yo.Fr. Ignatius Suparno, CM, Mariani, Lewis, Frans and I went to Liberty Bell and several old buildings in the area. We ate at a Malaysian restaurant Banana Leaf and the servers wore batik. Mariani, Lewis, Tatiana and I went to Shrine of St. John Neumann where his incorruptible remain is laying below the altar and then attended evening prayer at Pink Sisters (SSpSAP).Mariani, Lewis, tante Nina, om Yo and I went to Penns Landing and then attended the rosary at Bu Sari’s house. I shared my vocation story as a Maryknoll Sister. We had Indonesian meals afterwards. Here is the link of the pictures: http://flickr.com/gp/23139201@N02/XHf56N. There were around 40 persons. Mariani, Lewis and I went to the Geno’s to have cheese steak.

Oct 4, 2009Lily and I attended mass at St. Thomas Aquinas Church and then went to Chinatown to catch the bus to Washington DC for orientation with Maryknoll Lay Missioners (http://www.mklaymissioners.org/).I couldn’t refill my cellphone before left Philadephia. I saw a T-mobile store near Chinatown Washington DC so I decided to ask them to refill it because I should to contact Society for Mission in Africa (SMA). They had a pink chair and finally I found out that it’s their first day. A Divine Providence. Rachel and Tom of SMA picked me up at Takoma train station. We had dinner including tofu fish and durian jelly at SMA. I slept in the floor with mattress at TV room with Rena Mendez, MKLM. There were two pink blankets so I got it. A Divine Providence.

Oct 5, 2009We had a retreat with Fr. Mike, OFM including watching the movie of St. Francis Assisi the Reluctant Saint. There were lay missioners of SMA and Fransiscan Mission Service (FMS) too.

Oct 6, 2009There were presentations Chris Promis of Catholic Relief Service (http://www.crs.org/) and Peter O’Driscoll of Action Aid (http://www.actionaid.org) on how they identify where will they work, projects they will implement and how they measure success.Marty Shupack of Church World Service (http://www.churchworldservice.org/) gave presentation on the importance of advocacy to poverty eradication.I had lunch in front of Capitol Hill with Minh, MKLM as it’s only walking distance from Methodist Building.Representative from Tanzanian and Bolivian Embassies shared about the impact of US foreign aid and/or US based NGOs on eradicating poverty in their country.It’s the last day of the collaborative days with SMA and FMS.While relaxing in the TV room, I saw a VHS of St. Therese Lisieux. I wished to watch a movie about her as I didn’t watched the whole movie in Chicago. A Divine Providence.

7 Oct 09The Maryknoll Lay Missioners and Maryknoll Sisters including myself had introduction to mandate and methodology of Maryknoll Office of Global Concern (http://www.maryknollogc.org/) including watching the movie “The Story of Stuff” http://www.storyofstuff.com/.I decided to watch the movie St. Therese of Lisieux upon arriving home even though mass will be started in 30 minutes. I watched for around 20 minutes and then attended mass at 6.00 p.m. Fr. Dan Lynch, SMA gave a long homily about St. Therese of Lisieux. A holy coincidence!I continued to watch the movie after supper with Rena. As I had orientation about Global Concern, I was reminded to my mission statement “...doing simple things with simple love to make God’s love visible.”

9 Oct 09I joined Rena, MKLM and Judy Coode of MOGC to meet the aide of Senator Olympia Snowe from Maine after visiting Library of Congress. Then I joined Nancy Tyrolt, MKLM, Marie Dennis and Michelle Born, MKLM to meet the aide of Senator Richard Durbin from Illinois.We had an evaluation at Methodist Building and then I went to see an exhibit “The Art of Can” at Union Station. I saw a woman in pink drove a pink car on the way to SMA’s house. A holy coincidence. Fr. Marianus, SVD picked me up and then we had supper at Chinatown for his 5th anniversary of ordination. I stayed at SVD house.

10 Oct 09Om Hoo, Fr. Lukas Batmomolin, SVD and I went around DC area and then going to om Hoo’tante Betty’s house. We had supper with Pak Irawan-tante Karmi, om Hoo-tante Betty, Nico-Julien-Lissy-Bernie at a Thai restaurant.

Thank you very much to all of you for the opportunity to share my vocation story and enjoyed the beauty of the cities, for warm welcome and hospitality, for all the gifts including monetary gift, and also for all hard works of Maryknoll Office of Global Concern in preparing all the presentations and meetings.